ABIM Foundation Launches Choosing Wisely Newsletter

February 6, 2014

First launched in April 2012, the Choosing Wisely campaign has now grown to more than 60 specialty societies advancing conversations about waste and overuse in the health care system. The ABIM Foundation has created this monthly e-newsletter to bring you the latest news, updates and best practices from organizations around the country that are implementing core components of the campaign. We encourage you to subscribe, share this resource with your colleagues and submit ideas for future stories.

Upcoming issues will highlight the work of organizations partnering in the Choosing Wisely effort, including the more than a dozen leading medical specialty societies that will release new lists of specific tests or procedures in early 2014.

The new lists add to the growing library of more than 220 tests and procedures that have been identified as potentially harmful and therefore may require further discussion between patients and physicians.

Societies releasing lists in 2014 include:

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses/American College of Chest Physicians/American Thoracic Society/Society of Critical Care Medicine (Critical Care) – January 11

Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance – January 16

American Society of Anesthesiologists* (Pain) – January 21

Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine – February 3

Heart Rhythm Society – February 10

AmericanCollege of Occupational and Environmental Medicine – February 24

American Geriatrics Society* – February 27

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology* – February 28

American Association of Neurological Surgeons – March 11

American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation – TBD

AABB (formerly known as American Association of Blood Banks) – TBD

American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases – TBD

American Medical Society for Sports Medicine – TBD

American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons – TBD

American Society of Plastic Surgeons – TBD

Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions – TBD

*Releasing a second list

These lists continue the conversation started two years after the first nine lists were released, and will help inform critical conversations about waste and overuse as stories appear in the media and blogs on a daily basis. Recent highlights include:

The body of literature on Choosing Wisely also continues to grow, with more than 175 articles now published on the campaign and the society recommendations. Included in this number are 20 articles from the societies themselves delving into the science and evidence behind their lists.